Battle with sprint rivals expected

Manx cycling superstar Mark Cavendish starts his defence of the Dubai Tour title today.

He is riding for his new Dimension Data team in a race where three of the four stages are expected to end in bunch sprints.

Rivals looking to upset the Manx Missile include Marcel Kittel and Elia Viviani.

Onchan resident Ben Swift rides for Team Sky and Mark Christian is in the Team Wiggins line-up.